“Pension Awareness Day brings retirement saving to the front on people’s minds once again. Just 7% of the nation is on track for the retirement income they want and it’s important people take control of their savings. Often the hardest part is to make a start and once you’re in a habit of regular saving, it becomes a lot easier. The industry needs to provide people with tools and services to make this first step as easy as possible and pensions that can be managed from smartphones and tablets are available now.
“Since pension freedoms, there has been a seismic shift in the way people access their retirement income and it’s energised people and got many of those closer to retirement thinking about what to do. Recent industry figures show that many have exercised their freedoms with billions withdrawn in the first few months, and similarly, we’ve seen the number of retirees opting for drawdown double year on year. Yet despite this, our research has found that income certainty is still the most important retirement income feature for three fifths (61%) of people and this unlikely to change.”